Rotary operating member for boot and shoe finishing machines.



PATENTED OCT. 15, 1907.

W. W. GROOKER. ROTARY OPERATING MEMBER FOR BOOT AND SHOE FINISHING MACHINES.

APPLIOATION FILED SEPT-13,1906.

WILLIAM WINSLOW OROOKER, OF LYNN, MASSAO HUSETTS. t

ROTARY OPERATING MEMBER FOR BOOT AND SHOE FINISHING MACHINES.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM WmsLow CROOKER, of

Lynn, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rotary Operating Members for Boot and Shoe Finishing Machines, of which the following is a specification. 4

This invention relates to machines for performing various operations in the finishing of boots and shoes, such as buffing, polishing or burnishing, and applying wax preparatory to polishing or burnishing. In machines of this character a rotary member is employed having a working cover composed of abrasive material for bufling, and of flexible textile material for waxing and polishing, the said working cover being backed by a compressible cushion. Heretofore the said cushion has been usually made of felt, although in some cases, especially in buffing appliances, the cushion has been provided by inflating a suitable sack or holder with air under pressure. Felt as a cushioning material has the disadvantage of being relatively inelastic and liable to be permanently compressed and rendered undesirably rigid by use. Compressed-air cushions are difficult to maintain, owing to the liability of puncturing the bag or case in which the air is confined.

My invention has for its chief object to provide a cushion or backing for the working cover of an operat ing member of the class stated which shall have practically all the advantages of a pneumatic cushion without its disadvantages, and to this end the invention consists in a rotary operating member having a work ing cover and cushion or backing therefor composed of cellular rubber. This cushion may be the ordinary sponge rubber containing a large number of aircells,

the walls of which are composed of thin elastic rubber,

The invention also lfas for its object to provide im-,

proved means for securing an annular cushion to the hub or body which it surrounds, the said means being embodied in an elastic retaining band, the diameter of which is normally less than that of the cushion, said band, when sprung to place, forming a yielding cus'h-' ion-retaining cover which in effect forms a part of the cushion, and yieldingly backs or supportsthe flexible working cover.

The invention consists in the improvements hereinafter described and claimed,

Of the accompanying drawings,Figure 1 represents a longitudinal section of a rotary operating member having a construction suitable for applying wax to surfaces of boots and shoes. Fig. 2 represents a section on Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed Septembe r 13,1906. Serial No. 334,436.

Patented Oct. 15, 1907.

line,22 of Fig. 1. Figs. 3 and 4 represent perspective views of fragments of cellular cushions with different forms of air cells.

J f The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the figures.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, 12 represents a circular body or hub, which is suitably affixed to a shaft 13. The hub may be composed of any suitable material, and while it may be rigid, I prefer to make it of closely compressed felt, an annulus of felt being applied to the shaft l3, and secured theretobya suitable means,-

such as a sleeve 14 and flanged thimb les 15, 15 threaded thereon. The sleeve is made rigid in any suitable way to the shaft, and has an external screw-thread upon which the several clamping nuts hereinafter described are threaded. The thimbles are adapted to fit snugly in the central aperture of the hub 12, and have flanges 16, 16 on their outer ends, which clamp the parallel faces of thehub when said thimbles abut against each other, as in Fig. 1.

4 17 represents a cushion of cellular rubber surrounding the body 12 and suitablya secured thereto, the rubber able means such as clamping nuts 19 which press the edge portions of the cover 18 against the sides of the body 12. I p 4 The cellular rubber cushion 17 forms an elastic support .for the working cover, and the elasticity of the cushionmay be regulated by the tension given to the cellular rubber in applying it to the-body 12. In other words, the strip of cellular rubber of which the cushion is composed maybe stretched more or less in applying.

it to the body. The air cells are compressed or con tracted by thestretching of the rubber, and the elastic ity of the cushion is decreased to the extent to which the rubber is put under tension.

The working face or cover 18 may be heated to soften or melt the wax applied to it by suitable means "such as by a gas burner 20 in a casing 21 and a flue 22 7 extending from the casing and conducting heated air therefrom to the periphery of the rotary member above described, the said casing being extended in the form :of a hood 23 partially surrounding the periphery of the said operating member. I

The burner while adjacent to the operating member, is so far removedfrom it that the flame from the burner cannot impinge on any part of the operating member, the latter being heated by hot air and products ofcom bustion conducted from the burner. There is therefore no liability .of injuriously heating the cover'l8 and other combustible parts of the operating member. The heat supplied should be sufficient to soften the wax without melting it, and a degree of heat suitable for the accomplishment of this result may be readily maintained by means of the burner located at a distance from the operating member, thehoodcovering a part of the periphery of saidmember, and, the flue conducting heat from the burner to the hood. The motion of the periphery of the operating member through the hood induces an outward flow oi the-heating medium from the hood. I

While I have specified ordinary sponge rubber as the preferred material of the cushion, it will be understood that any suitable form and arrangement of rubber forming the elastic walls of numerous air spaces or cells may be adopted in the construction of said cushion, and that the air cells may have any desired form and arrangement. They may be small cells detached from each other or elongated either lengthwise of the cushion as shown in Fig. 3, or crosswise of the cushion as shown in 4. Sponge rubber is very desirable for the ,pur-

pose described because it'iorms a cushion which can be renovated when its air cells have become flattened, by simply removing the cushion from the hub and suitably manipulating it as by rubbing or shaking while in a loose condition, the air cells being thus restored to their 1 normal diameter that itwill hug the periphery of the I prefer to confine the cushion by an elastic band 30 which surrounds the cushion and is such'width and elasticity that its edge portions hug the sides of the cushion and overlap the body 12. This construction permits the ready application and removal of the cushion, the band 30 beingsprung onto the cushion after presence of two witnesses.

the latter has been placed on the body 12. The outer' working cover 18 bears on the elastic band 30 The said band when made rubber not only confines the cushion in place, but also prevents access to the cushion of melted wax and other material that might find its way through the working cover and stiffen the cushion. Moreover the band adds resilient material to the cushi011. [I i v It will be seen that the heat supplied, acts not only to melt the wax on the working cover, but also to heat the air inthe air cells or spaces of the cellular rubber cushion, the heated air expanding the said cells,

Which is normally less than that of the cushion, said hand being sprung to place on the cushion so that its edges automatically form flanges which engage the edges of the hub and cover the ends of the cushion, and'a flexible working cover bearing on the band and backed by the band and cushion. 2A In a machine of the character stated, a rotary wheel comprising a circular hub or body, an annular cushion of sponge rubber surrounding the. periphery of the same, an air-proof elastic band or clamp removably securing the cushion to the body and covering the face and both edges of the cushion, and a flexible working cover bearing on said band and backed by" the band and cushion.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature, in

WILLIAM WINSLOW CROOKER. Witnesses 1 F. BRO\VN,

A. C. RA'.lIG.iN. 

